Dreaded cooling system issues

Neoparoykos

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Trolling? I've had that exact milky oil cap. It was a cracked head that was the cause.

Wasn't sure. Your words seemed to echo my "greatest fear" and lacked detail.

Nevertheless, thank you for your input. Did your car overheat at that time? Interestingly, I have had the milky oil cap for some time and have put many miles on the car prior to it beginning to overheat. It only began overheating after the thermostat housing swap. I suspect it was losing coolant prior to though as I would periodically have to top it off and there was no indication of a leak
 

Mot27cars

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I previously did a compression test and it was normal. A leak-down is a bit trickier DIY I believe?



A friend, owner of an E9, said it is normal. *shrugs shoulders*



I sure hope not.
You can get a relatively inexpensive leak down test kit at harbor freight of you don’t have one or know anyone with one to borrow. Not hard to do at all
 

Stevehose

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It didn't overheat. Ran great. I didn't want to believe my eyes and thought of all other possibilities but it came down to that. It also puffed moisture out of the valve cover breather tube. Hopefully yours is something else but the milky oil cap is not normal.

Wasn't sure. Your words seemed to echo my "greatest fear" and lacked detail.

Nevertheless, thank you for your input. Did your car overheat at that time? Interestingly, I have had the milky oil cap for some time and have put many miles on the car prior to it beginning to overheat. It only began overheating after the thermostat housing swap. I suspect it was losing coolant prior to though as I would periodically have to top it off and there was no indication of a leak
 

Neoparoykos

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It didn't overheat. Ran great. I didn't want to believe my eyes and thought of all other possibilities but it came down to that. It also puffed moisture out of the valve cover breather tube. Hopefully yours is something else but the milky oil cap is not normal.

I've been avoiding the possibility as well, but it seems very likely. I also have the puff from the valve cover breather.:(


it would appear that OP installed an early tstat into a late housing - his head is likely cracked or warped.

True story. Rectified that issue, but I'm afraid it is too late. :(
 

m5bb

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GolfBavaria

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Thanks for the reply, Dick. Yes, I think there was some confusion in regards to whether or not that was the oil cap or the radiator cap. It is definitely the oil cap.

The interesting thing is that I have repeated the purge and top off procedures several times only to find that the subsequent day it begins overheating again and acts as though there is more air in the system. Once I purge it again and add more coolant it seems to perform normally. It did this both yesterday and today. I just returned from going outside and starting the car for a bit to let it idle. It idled for 15 minutes or so and remained around one-third. Hoping it stays this way when I get home from work tomorrow.
I misspoke earlier when I said that is what my radiator cap looked like when I had the bad head gasket, it was my oil cap that looked like that.....
 

Neoparoykos

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Gutted.

IMG_20201105_172459104.jpg


Next step, pray it is the head gasket and not a cracked head. Ugh.
 

TedS

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Sorry to hear this. A cracked head might not be too bad, though. You appear able to do your own work and hard to find parts seem to crop up on this forum with some regularity.
Keep us posted on your progress (as you are).
 

Neoparoykos

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I hope so along with you too!

Sorry to hear this. A cracked head might not be too bad, though. You appear able to do your own work and hard to find parts seem to crop up on this forum with some regularity.
Keep us posted on your progress (as you are).

Appreciate the support & positivity from you all. I've been very pleased with this community since entering it a little over a year ago. Will keep you all updated!
 

HB Chris

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Many cracked heads can be welded as long as the crack isn’t in the head stud area. We had this done successfully on our 2800. A good shop will do a pressure test to see how bad it is. Might as well have valve guides and stem seals checked while you are in there. Good luck.
 
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